The 1983 Penrith and The Border by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 July 1983 for the British House of Commons constituency of Penrith and The Border in Cumbria.
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Constituency of Penrith and The Border | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 55.9% ( 17.2%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Held seven weeks after the election in which the Conservatives won a second term by a landslide, it was the very first by-election of the 1983–1987 Parliament.
Vacancy
The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), William Whitelaw had been elevated to the peerage as Viscount Whitelaw. Whitelaw had held the seat since the 1955 general election, and had been Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party since 1974, and Deputy Prime Minister since 1979, serving as Home Secretary from 1979 until his ennoblement and appointment as Leader of the House of Lords.
Result
The result of the contest was a narrow victory for the Conservative candidate, David Maclean, who won with a majority of 552 over the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate Michael Young.
Votes
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | David Maclean | 17,530 | 46.0 | -12.8 | |
| Liberal | Michael Young | 16,978 | 44.6 | +16.7 | |
| Labour | Lindsay Williams | 2,834 | 7.4 | -5.8 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Screaming Lord Sutch | 412 | 1.1 | New | |
| Retired Naval Officer | Eric Morgan | 150 | 0.4 | New | |
| Death off Roads: Freight on Rail | Helen Anscomb | 72 | 0.2 | New | |
| Independent Socialist | John Connell | 69 | 0.2 | New | |
| New Britain | Peter Smith | 35 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 552 | 1.4 | -29.5 | ||
| Turnout | 38,080 | 55.9 | -17.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -14.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | William Whitelaw | 29,304 | 58.8 | -2.4 | |
| Alliance | Michael Young | 13,883 | 27.9 | +11.4 | |
| Labour | W Williams | 6,612 | 13.3 | -9.1 | |
| Majority | 15,421 | 30.1 | -8.7 | ||
| Turnout | 49,799 | 73.1 | -3.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
